Continuously updated rural "financial map" - major changes in my country's rural financial landscape

The number of new rural financial institutions that began piloting at the end of 2006 currently reaches 50, and will increase to 100 by the end of the year home; the Postal Savings Bank established in March 2007 has 37,000 outlets, becoming a financial network connecting urban and rural areas; HSBC, the first foreign-funded rural bank opened in Hubei in December 2007, has expanded its presence in rural areas in Chongqing, Fujian and other places this year ; The Agricultural Bank of China, which withdrew some branches from rural areas in the past few years, has clearly positioned itself in the "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" market, stated that it will stabilize its county branches and appropriately restore and add some township business branches... In recent years, rural financial reform has accelerated, and rural " "Financial Map" is constantly updated, and my country's rural financial pattern has undergone major changes.

Kowloon Water Control: A New Financial Map for the Vast Rural Areas

“In recent years, a prominent change in rural finance has been the formation of a ‘Kowloon Water Control’ situation in rural areas. The construction of a multi-layered, wide-coverage and sustainable rural financial system that adapts to the characteristics of 'agriculture, rural areas and farmers' is accelerating," said a banking industry insider when talking about the construction of rural financial institutions in recent years.

The "Kowloon water control" mentioned by this industry insider refers to the Agricultural Development Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Rural Credit Cooperatives, Rural Cooperative Banks, Rural Commercial Banks, and China Post that operate in rural areas. Nine types of banking financial institutions include savings banks, village banks, loan companies, and rural mutual funds. In addition, private finance is also an important part of the rural financial market.

The most eye-catching change in rural financial institutions at present is undoubtedly the emergence and expansion of new rural financial institutions. At the end of 2006, the China Banking Regulatory Commission made major adjustments to the access policy for banking financial institutions in rural areas, implemented "capital" and "institutional" liberalization, and allowed the establishment of village banks, loan companies and rural funds on a pilot basis in 6 provinces (regions) including Sichuan and Jilin. New rural financial institutions such as mutual aid societies. At present, the pilot scope has been expanded to the whole country, and 50 new rural financial institutions have been opened.

The establishment of the Postal Savings Bank of China is also regarded as an important step in rural financial development. The service scope of Postal Savings Bank's outlets covers all cities, counties and major towns in my country. Most of them are located in counties and below, forming a financial network connecting the urban and rural economies.

As the main force in rural finance, rural credit cooperatives, since launching a new round of reform in 2003, have explored and implemented new property rights models such as joint-stock systems and joint-stock cooperative systems, as well as rural commercial banks, rural cooperative banks and Unify the organizational form of legal persons based on counties (cities). As of the end of the first quarter of this year, 17 rural commercial banks, 120 rural cooperative banks, and 1,848 county (city) unified legal entities have been restructured nationwide. The number of legal entities nationwide has been reduced from 35,527 to 7,932; The balance of agricultural loans reached 1,517.7 billion yuan, and the balance of farmers' loans reached 1,263.4 billion yuan. The coverage of farmers' loans reached 30.5%, which has benefited more than 300 million farmers.

As a policy bank, the Agricultural Development Bank of China's function of serving "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" has been expanded in recent years. It was initially engaged in grain, cotton and oil purchase loan business, and gradually expanded to mainly grain, cotton and oil loan business. It is supplemented by agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and sideline fishery production, processing and transformation, and agricultural science and technology, and has especially expanded to the fields of leading agricultural industrialization enterprises, comprehensive agricultural development, and rural infrastructure construction. In the first half of this year, the Agricultural Development Bank of China issued nearly 50 billion yuan in loans and supported 574 agricultural and rural infrastructure construction projects, highlighting the important role of policy-based financial services.

The Agricultural Bank of China, which withdrew some of its branches from rural areas in the past few years, has clearly positioned itself in the “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” market and explored effective ways to combine services for “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” with commercial operations.

There are gaps in the financial map: "Townships with zero financial institutions" still exist

Although the rural financial market presents a "Kowloon flood control" situation, in terms of the layout of institutional outlets in the rural financial map , the blank remains.

The "Atlas of Distribution of Rural Financial Services in China's Banking Industry" released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission in June last year shows the following rural financial status: First, the resource share of financial outlets per capita in rural areas at and below county level The average number of institutional outlets per 10,000 people is only 1.26; secondly, financial service resources are difficult to extend to rural areas at the township level, with an average of less than 3 banking outlets in each township; thirdly, the financial market in townships has not formed an effective Competition. Banking financial institutions located in non-county towns are mainly rural credit cooperatives or postal savings institutions, and the local financial market is basically in a monopoly state. Fourth, there is a huge gap in per capita loan levels.

In the past year, although the situation is developing in a good direction, it has not been fundamentally improved. The latest statistics show that in terms of rural network layout, there are still 2,868 "zero financial institution towns" in my country, of which 2,645 are in the western region, accounting for 80% of the national total. In addition, there are 2 counties (cities) and 8,901 towns with only one financial institution.

Experts believe that the gaps and low coverage of rural financial institutions are due to insufficient effective demand for rural finance, high costs, high risks and low returns of rural financial services, making it difficult for rural financial institutions to achieve sustainable commercial development. But it also shows that the ability of banking financial institutions to serve the rural financial market needs to be improved.

“The lack of rural financial institutions and low coverage has resulted in farmers being unable to enjoy GSP financial services, insufficient competition among rural financial institutions, failure to effectively improve service levels and quality, and inability to rationalize rural financial resources. Effective allocation," said Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The rural market is vast: the rural financial organization system is gradually improving

The emergence and expansion of new rural financial institutions have further activated the rural financial market. The China Banking Regulatory Commission has made it clear that it will vigorously cultivate new rural financial institutions such as village banks, loan companies and rural mutual funds that are suitable for the characteristics of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers", guide all types of capital to invest and start businesses in rural areas, and strive to improve and increase the coverage of rural financial institutions. The number of new rural financial institutions will increase to 100.

It is worth mentioning that foreign financial institutions have begun to expand into China’s rural financial market by investing in rural commercial banks or establishing new rural financial institutions. HSBC has established or is preparing to establish rural banks in Hubei, Chongqing, Fujian and other places, and Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank are also actively working on opening rural banks and loan companies.

Relevant experts believe that the huge potential of the rural financial market, coupled with insufficient rural financial competition and insufficient rural financial services, provides business opportunities for all types of capital to invest in and establish financial institutions in rural areas. The positive guidance of rural financial policies will enable new rural financial institutions to develop rapidly and play an increasingly important role.

As the main force supporting agriculture, the reform of rural credit cooperatives is further deepening. The relevant person in charge of the China Banking Regulatory Commission pointed out that the exploration and practice of various reform models of rural cooperative financial institutions are encouraged and supported to strengthen rural credit cooperatives, rural cooperative banks, and rural commercial banks to better serve "agriculture, rural areas and farmers." At the same time, we will accelerate the process of joint-stock reform of rural cooperative financial institutions. We will first implement joint-stock reform for institutions in urban areas and areas with a high degree of urban-rural integration, and then gradually expand to rural areas.

The joint-stock reform of Agricultural Bank of China is progressing steadily. Agricultural Bank of China is trying to leverage its advantages in county capital, network and expertise to explore effective ways to combine services for “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” with commercial operations. Its overall implementation plan for serving "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" has also made it clear that it will appropriately restore and add some township business outlets on the premise of stabilizing county outlets.

The newly established Postal Savings Bank stated that its vast branches will adhere to the retail banking market positioning of "oriented towards 'agriculture, rural areas and farmers' and serving the community", continue to rely on the postal network to operate, give full play to its network advantages, and provide Play an active role in improving financial services in urban communities and vast rural areas.

At the same time, relevant departments are actively promoting the establishment of agricultural policy insurance, commercial insurance, mutual insurance and reinsurance systems.

Liu Mingkang said that the China Banking Regulatory Commission will accelerate rural financial reform and innovation, vigorously cultivate and develop the rural financial organization system - cultivate new rural financial institutions, optimize existing rural financial institutions, and improve rural non-bank financial institutions.